Pheasants: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan ... - IUCN

Project 18. Reeves’s pheasant
(Syrmaticus reevesii)
Aims: to conduct an intensive ecological study of habitat
requirements in different kinds of forest; to assess the
adequacy of the existing protected area network in
supporting viable populations of this species; to conduct
a conservation awareness programme with the aim of
reducing illegal hunting and egg collection.
Justification: the Reeves’s pheasant was formerly a common
and widespread species, but its range is now severely
fragmented and it has already disappeared from many
previously forested areas. It occurs in several reserves, but
there is a need to assess whether viable populations exist in
these places. In addition, more sympathetic management
strategies are required to halt further declines and
fragmentation of this species’ habitat. Ways should also
be found to reduce the levels of illegal hunting.
Project description: survey work should be conducted in
the various protected areas known to contain populations
of this species to determine the viability of both the
pheasant populations, and the habitat within and
surrounding each reserve. These data can be assembled
into a large-scale assessment of the efficacy of the protected
area network for this species, and further designations
recommended if necessary. To help improve management
within protected areas, further ecological study of
habitat use in different kinds of forest (temperate,
subtropical, and conifer) at all seasons of the year is
required. This can be combined with detailed monitoring
of some populations to look at trends in relation to various
habitat management approaches. This species would make
a suitable flagship for raising public awareness of
conservation, with the aim of reducing the amount of
illegal hunting and egg collecting.
Timescale: surveys of any duration will provide useful
information about the range and abundance of this species,
but a long-term approach should be developed for
management recommendation work, ecological studies,
and the conservation awareness programme.
Resources: needs will vary depending on the length and
scope of the component projects, but individual surveys
and the protected area assessment could be conducted
relatively easily.
Project 19. Mountain peacock-pheasant
(Polyplectron inopinatum)
Aims: to conduct further distribution surveys to clarify the
full range of this species; to monitor populations where the
species is known to occur; to support the re-establishment
of one protected area and the designation of another.
Justification: the mountain peacock-pheasant is endemic
to central Peninsular Malaysia, where there are recent
records from just 12 localities. Its extremely small global
range makes it vulnerable to habitat loss and
fragmentation. Conversion of land to agriculture is a
potential threat to this species, as is a proposed roadbuilding
project to link the hill stations of Genting
Highlands, Fraser’s Hill and Cameron Highlands. The
main priority is to monitor populations of this species
within protected areas to ensure that any declines can be
noted quickly, and action can be taken to identify and
correct their causes. This high profile species could be used
as a flagship in a public awareness programme for
promotion of the protected area concept in Malaysia.
Project description: surveys should be conducted to
document its distribution and status, especially in the
area just to the north of its present known range. At sites
where it has already been recorded, monitoring
programmes should be established after developing census
techniques appropriate to the species. Any changes in
status should trigger a process to identify the threats
contributing to the decline. A campaign should be mounted
for the establishment of a protected area in the Main
Range and the re-establishment of the one at Cameron
Highlands. The value of a large-scale conservation
awareness programme for this and other threatened forestdwelling
species in Peninsular Malaysia should be
investigated.
Timescale: surveys of any duration will provide useful
information, but a long-term approach should be developed
for the monitoring and public awareness work.
Resources: needs will vary depending on the length and
scope of the component projects, but individual surveys
could be conducted relatively easily.
Project 20. Germain’s peacock-pheasant
(Polyplectron germaini)
Aims: to survey remaining suitable areas in Vietnam and
eastern Cambodia; to conduct research into the use of
secondary and degraded habitats; to encourage better
management of protected areas containing populations of
this species.
Justification: this species is only known from southern
Vietnam, but may still occur in eastern Cambodia. Its
range has been severely reduced and fragmented through
commercial logging activity and the resettlement of human
50